The uninformed view of the Universe is the anthropocentric view of Humanity as the apex of Creation.  The myth that the human species represents a final vision of some ultimate ideal is central to the rape-the-Earth-for-profit mentality that creates everyday atrocities like mountaintop removal, animal slaughterhouses, and elective caesarean sections.  Intelligent humans find inspiration and renewal when in harmony with nature.  The post-industrial travel system of ten-lane highways and airbuses is moving a lot of people to nowhere.  Unfortunately, there isn’t enough concrete and cages to satisfy some people’s need for resource-domination! Our species needs to create a means of mandated social responsibility born from the positive power of community, not enforced externally by fines and media and government-created fear.

Image from: http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/presence_gaia.html

“The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.”  - Hunter S. Thompson

The most well-received words I've ever strung together

Do I need to expend this precious bandwidth to badmouth the BP Deepwater Horizon atrocity some more?  Do I need to worry about technological advancement speeding past the painstaking pace of institutional gridlock?  Do I need to speak out about American war crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over the world?

Yes…unfortunately I do.  If enough of us were speaking out than perhaps I could retire to nights of apathy like so many of my countrymen.   Perhaps if enough of us cared to take the lead,  upgrade to solar, invest in meaningful education,  and ‘be the change’ rather than just sharing articles on Facebook about how everything is the same, and the same sucks, we’d all be in a better place.  The status quo of my country is choking the Earth, stripping citizens of their rights, and increasing militarism and hegemony around the world.  And I refuse to take part.  I don’t know how to not take part yet, but I know what I see on a daily basis is failure from the institutions so many still naively trust.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote,

Violence can only be maintained by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.

Does this blog need to detail the 30,000-65,000 barrels of lies pouring from the mouths of British Petroleum and the White House on a daily basis?  Does THE BRAKE LIGHTS TOLL-FREE HELPLINE need to clarify its position on this physical manifestation of greed?  There aren’t enough cages or concrete for some people!  The world being built around the rest of us is designed for obedience to a monolithic system that doesn’t pause to reflect when surging forward.  ”We’re not looking back,” our President says.  ”We’re moving forward!”

Mountaintop removal, regional ecocides like the one in the Gulf of Mexico, and industrial farming using Nazi-designed slaughterhouses are some immediate images that come to mind when considering the avarice of consumption.

I found this book by Bill Knott in South Carolina some years ago.  The following lines always wowed me:

To look at things in a new slant is fine
But it’s more fun
To jump into the slant and disappear forever

Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Bob Dylan

Listening to Blonde on Blonde on Peaked Mountain Road the other day, I could almost feel the American utopia of some better yesteryear resonate deep within a core I didn’t even know I had.  Leaves are growing.  The green canopy of the forest is reemerging.  Growth is abundant.

Yet still, crazy ways are evident in the world-at-large.  The things we hate about ourselves seem to time and time again manifest themselves in corporate misconduct, elected liars yelling “FIRE!” in a bellicose political puppet theater, needy Facebook messages pleading with strangers to attend events far away.  You can make your own list.

An electronic manifestation of the Void

Albert Einstein has that famous quote about insane people doing the same things over again and again and expecting different results. Humanity needs to begin exploring new avenues to the future.  Boulevards.  12-lane expressways of creativity and community rather than the congestion leading to nowhere.

Grandpa’s buried in the rocks.  The old man lived in a different day, using different ways.  The old ways won’t work anymore.  Intentional living is what some call it.  Deliberate living.  It’s OK to realize that you were wasting time, breathing from your mouth, pronouncing banal improperly.  That’s growth.  Despite Earth’s overabundance, too many live in misery.  Until creative solutions are put into practice, nothing will change.  The first change starts with yourself.  Are you contributing to a better world?  I hope so.  We only have one Mother. Happy Earth Day.

The guitar is a little out of tune and so’s my voice, but I seldom perform live these days. Thanks to Physical Illusion for posting this!

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